The Legends of a Barely Competent Link
by longherin
Summary: What if Link wasn't automatically good at everything? What if Link had poor luck? What if Link taunted Murphy and Murphy obliged? -Follows the GBA version of Link to the Past.
1. Link to the Past - 1

**Legends of the (Normal) Link**

Link woke up to the sounds of a girl calling herself Zelda asking him for help because she was being held down in the castle dungeon. Apparently his uncle heard her too, since he's getting ready to go outside. Link could hear the sounds of the rain outside. It was raining really really hard.

"Link, I'm going out for a bit, but there's no need for you to worry." Link looked at his uncle. Why was the man awake at this hour during the night is a mystery to him.

"I'll be back by morning, but I don't want you leaving the house until then…"

"Go back to bed… and wait for me to return." Link looked at his uncle like he was a little off WHOA where did that sword and shield come from?

The sudden appearance of his uncle armed and exercising surprised Link so much he immediately jumped out of bed and stole all the hearts underneath the pots next to his bed. Why where hearts there anyways?

Wasting no time Link pilfered the family heirloom, their lamp. Theirs was a MAGICAL lamp, that used MAGICAL powers to light up torches. It was better than all the other lamps because it was MAGICAL. Nevermind all the times Uncle ransacked other people's houses for magic vials because he was out of magic and couldn't light his MAGICAL lamp. Proper lamp oil was expensive, at 5 rupees per bottle. That's like, 2 minutes of cutting grass and finding money. No, better to have the MAGICAL lamp.

…

Link, heeding the advice of a girl he's never met before like a true hero, stepped out of his house and into a drenching downpour. That MAGICAL lamp didn't need to worry about rain, but for some reason it was bright enough for him to see around him just fine despite being insanely and totally wet after the first ten seconds of standing there, admiring his lawn of bushes.

Admiration done, Link pulled up said bushes with his bare hands, making sure the stump was perfectly flat with the ground.

He then jumped off the ledge and landed with a loud crack.

**GAME OVER: Link broke his leg.**

Link woke up again. Confused about having dead and yet still alive. His uncle talked to him and he largely ignored it, and went outside again.

This time he jumped off the ledge and made sure to stick his landing. Instead of mysteriously dying from a broken leg he got a lot muddy.

Seeing a soldier in the distance Link talked to the guy. Pretty standup guy, really, although a bit disturbing on how they're blocking his path so he could either go home or go to the castle.

Link walked up to the castle. They live really close to the castle, despite being in the middle of nowhere. Link passed by the sign erected by the King's troops, ignoring the offer of a bag of money for girls descended from sages. The King had died a while ago, and obviously the soldiers weren't paid enough to pull the sign out.

So Link did it for them. As Link threw the sign at the fence he pondered on how the sign was lighter than a rock, and as the sign exploded into four triangular pieces he pondered on how much wood it took to make said sign, and went back home for a chance of clothing, because he was now wet and the prospect of meeting a hot girl in chains while sopping wet did not sound like "heroics".

As he came back to the Castle he noticed that a new sign was erected. How? He wasn't even gone for five minutes. Same message, too.

So Link pulled it up once more and threw it at the water, where it shattered before it hit the Castle moat-slash-river.

"Help me…" The mysterious voice girl said.

"Somewhere outside the castle you should find a hidden entrance to the Palace Garden." How helpful!

The man at the front of the gate was obviously not going to let him in, hiding behind that giant shield plus eye hole there. So link followed the very helpful stone path down to his right. Until it lead to a shrub very conspicuously placed in the middle of the path.

Acting like a proper, responsible almost adult, Link burned it apart with his MAGICAL lamp.

And as he fell down his only thought was: "I want a new pair of socks."

**GAME OVER: Link landed on his head.**

_The third time's the charm_, Link thought, leaving his house almost immediately after his uncle left (and had to go back for the MAGICAL lamp, because it's MAGICAL)

Jumping off the cliff (landing and making himself muddy again)

Pulling up the sign (now he noticed that the sign had a very shrub-esque dot on the ground; were the signs growing from the ground?)

Following the path

And pulling up the shrub that was covering a hole that fell down an indeterminate distance. Link tied the rope he brought from home on the large, garish tree and lowered himself down. Until the rope ran out and he was forced to jump the last distance…

Into more water. Unfortunately the water wasn't deep enough to break his fall entirely, and since the water was flat hitting it was indeed like hitting solid floor.

But Link had toughened from his previous two deaths. He wasn't about to die again due to a broken leg, oh no, that would just be bad storytelling. Like the man he is, Link walked it off and followed the path down to his left. Where his Uncle lay, collapsed on the ground. The man had never exercised a day in his life! No wonder he collapsed a few feet from the Hidden Garden Entrance.

"Unnh…That Voice…Link?" _I didn't say anything. _Link thought. In retrospect he kind of did the first time around, when he was screaming his lungs out falling down the hole.

"Is it you? I thought I told you to wait at home…" _Well I heard a girl's voice in my head._

"I suppose there's no escaping destiny…" _Wait what?_

"Here, take this sword and shield from me. I shall teach you one of the secret sword techniques used by the Knights of Hyrule…" _You were a KNIGHT?!_

"Hold the B Button to focus power in your blade." _What Button? _"Release it to unleash the power."

"Link…you must rescue Princess Zelda. Our people are fated to do so." _ You have blue hair! Why are you not doing the rescuing?! Heroes must have blue hair!_

"But do not fall victim…to fate…Link…" _I already did. This is the third time._

"I shall always remember…our time…together…" _We spent most of our afternoons ramming trees for apples._

And his Uncle died and Link took his equipment. There was no remorse because Link could not express emotion, and all he could do was yell, scream, and grunt. "Vocabulary" was not something the Hylian Knights wanted in its recruits, apparently.

Link looked down at his uncle's sword. There was a bright blue button with a B inscribed on it.

…

Moving on!

Link went through the only door his uncle could've gone through had he exercised more (Link was always the one being rammed into trees) and met one of the castle guards. He had on a suit of entirely green armor, a small shield (compared to the massive walls of steel the yellow guys had) and a piddly knife. He also was walking around rather unfocused, looking around left and right.

Link, deciding that everything that was armed was an enemy, stabbed the man with the knife and robbed the treasure chest the man was guarding. It contained five rupees.

Disgusted by the pitiful amount of loot (Though his mind reminded him this was more money than he's had since ever) Link climbed the staircase and went outside to the downpour.

Or, rather, he would have if the staircase wasn't slippery and his shoes didn't have blood on their soles.

**GAME OVER: Link fell down a staircase.**

Author Notes: The plot and progression will mimic the game's. If you've played the game then at least I hope you had a smile on your face as your mind fills in the blanks.

Yes, Link can't really "die", that would put a damper on him being Normal. Weird, really.


	2. Link to the Past - 2

Finally. Finally. He was in the lowest level of the dungeon.

After many experiences with oddly bottomless pits (which were not really bottomless; they just lead back to the front of the Castle interior for whatever reason) and being shoved into said pits via blue men with swords, with the new always returning boomerang that once flew through two doors to get to him and apparently capable of magically paralyzing its target, and with throwing large heavy pots at people and causing them to explode with amazing tidiness, Link was finally at the lowest level of the dungeon.

The dungeon itself was only three floors deep, with the second floor being just a staircase because the King did not want the voices of the screaming peasants reaching the second floor's would be occupants, and having the dungeons themselves on the second floor was not dungeon-y enough.

Link arrived on the third level, and squared off against the Jail Master: A heavily armored man swinging around a large, spiked ball.

Link, with his masterful Boomerang throw, throws the boomerang at the Jail Master while charging forward at a brisk pace. The boomerang struck the Jail Master, forcing him to convulse in his armor violent on the spot for a brief moment. Link recognizes this as the sign that the boomerang has done its work, and catches the Boomerang as it flies back, all the while charging briskly at the Jail Master with the intent on finishing him off.

Unfortunately the Spiked ball has no blood to convulse with.

**GAME OVER: Link was brained by a large spiked ball.**

Once more, dear Link, once more.

Link, having learned from his certainly death-and-immediate-revival, opted to go for a more roundabout approach. Having seen the pots in one of the jail cells, he resolved to fling the pots at the Jail Master in order to deal terrible, terrible damage. This doesn't really resolve the fact that he would still be dead if the spiked ball catches him, but Link couldn't think that far ahead.

The ball had spikes on it, what did you expect?

…

Link, with his newly acquired sword lock picking skills successfully entered the abandoned jail cell and tossed the three pots at the jail master, eliciting a muffled "what the hell man" and a grunt of pain each time. Link ignored it. He's killed about twelve people around twenty times each, the child is now a hardened killer, all in the name of saving one girl he's never met.

Long story short Link won against the Jail Master by throwing the shards of pottery at the man until he gave up. It was very climatic, with epic battle music and all that.

The Jail Master gave Link a giant golden glazed brass key shaped in the form of a monster with a nose, which Link used to unlock the cell holding in the girl.

"Thank you, Link. I had a feeling you were getting close." The girl said. "Link, listen carefully. All the soldiers in the castle have fallen under the wizard's spell."

"I haven't." The Jailmaster helpfully put in.

"And I fear even worse has befallen my father… That wizard is an inhuman fiend! His powers are strong… … … …"

At this point she noticed Link was staring at her with unfocused eyes.

"Do you understand?" The girl's confidence in her rescuer was dropping point by point every second.

Link just had a blank stare.

Cue a sigh from the girl.

"Link, listen carefully…"

"…Do you understand?" For the third time now.

Link just nodded, his face a picture of impassiveness as it has always been.

The girl, at least, seems genuinely happy. "Good!" _Thank god I don't have to repeat it over again. _"We should go quickly before the wizard notices us. I know a secret path, but we must go to the first floor to reach it. Let's go!"

Link then promptly robbed the chest that was next to the girl for its measly content of five rupees.

…

To the princess's credit, she didn't bat an eyelid as Link brutally murdered a man in green armor that was guarding their path out. He was just being controlled and would be all better once his head was reattached to his body and the magic spell removed.

Link led the girl (who we all know is Zelda. Zelda is shorter to type. We're going with Zelda) to the ledge above the path down to the dungeons. Unfortunately it had no connection to the staircase leading up to the ground floor, and they were forced to jump down. Link, with his experience falling down ledges, landed well enough to avoid injuring himself.

Zelda landed with the grace expected of a princess using a large, oddly well maintained as a parachute.

…

Then they reached the entrance to the dungeons, where a man in blue armor waited, his sword sheathed.

"Princess Zelda, I am glad to see you safe. As a Knight of Hyrule, I shall protect you with my life." He said, going down on one knee.

He was promptly ignored as Link led Zelda up the stairs.

…

The Jailor came up some time later, complete with his armor but lacking his helmet, and still using his giant, spike ball mace. He came up to the sight of a grown man in bright blue armor (also helmetless) sobbing in a corner.

"I finally saw the princess and she ignored me!" The man was, needless to say, not an image of composure and strength as befitting a knight.

The Jailor patted him on the back. "She's ignored everyone once the boy with the red-trimmed green hat showed up. He's supposed to be a boy that saves Hyrule from evil, you know."

The Knight stopped sobbing, his face now incredulous. "The guy walked into a wall five times while getting down here!"

The Jailor shrugged. "Let him have his glory. We have work to do."

…

As Link lead Zelda to the main entrance, Zelda spoke up again. No mention of the Knight was made, because he wasn't in the script.

"There is a secret passage in the throne room that leads to the Sanctuary. I'm sure the old man there will help us. We must hurry."

Link ignored this obvious censorship (Sanctuary? Pfft, it's a Church) and obligingly lead Zelda up to the throne room without any further bloodshed.

Zelda looked disappointed.

As they approached the ornamental shelf, Zelda spoke up again. "That ornamental shelf should open. Do you have a light? It's pitch dark inside, and you can't see without one. If you're ready, let's go! We have to push it from the left. Come on! Help me!"

She says, while standing motionless behind Link.

Link, of course, starting pushing.

…

After five minutes he realized he was pushing from the right and thus the shelf would not budge.

…

As he entered the dark, dark, room behind the shelf, he realized (through his spike-addled brain) that two things are now happening.

One, they never closed that shelf behind them.

And two, his shield apparently was emitting a small, conical beam of light that showed the area just kind of in front of him and no more. His magic lamp was useless.

Also three, there are rats down here.

…

Zelda: _I hate rats._


	3. Link to the Past - 3

So. Rats.

Link, to his credit, has improved to the point where the rats wouldn't kill him immediately.

Unfortunately, these are dire rats and had no issues with bum rushing the poor hero and chewing him to bits, because he has no flashy invincibility frames.

**GAME OVER: Link was devoured by rats.**

Fortunately the god of regeneration was happy to place Link at the entrance to the rat's nest, and thus no time was lost.

Taking a cue from his last death, Link held his shield steady in front of him, blocking the attacks of the rats while stabbing with his sword. In short time all the rats had various stab wounds and died, as they should.

"Could you hurry up? We need to move this thing back into place?" Link heard behind him.

Turns out it was a pair of blue armor soldiers.

"Oh, sorry." Zelda and Link walked a bit further into the dungeon, and watched as the beam of light from the throne room disappeared.

…

The soldiers were mind-controlled with the express purpose to "maintain the throne room" and thus did not register Zelda as a target of capture.

Somewhere a magician is crying.

…

Link went deeper, followed by Zelda, who was disliking this trip down into the sewer with each second. The ground was dirty, the large room smelled of rat, she couldn't see, and because she of that she had to follow this idiot boy in green who seemed to take a savage pleasure in stepping in every puddle of rat blood he came across.

Link on the other hand was rather enjoying the adventure and the knowledge that somehow his shield was emitting a small beam of light that rapidly tapered off and robbed him of all sight to his sides. But if he squinted he could see in the darkness.

Also he was enjoying the magical torches that seemed to instantly flood the room with light the second he lit one up. Also they provided less light than his magical lamp shield.

…

Descending down the staircase, Link showed his prowess for learning as he carefully eased his way down owing to having shoes slick with blood, thus preventing another stupid death via falling down the stairs.

Zelda unfortunately has had no such experience and slipped and fell, sending Link down the stairs and landing on top of him.

Either way they survived long enough to realize that the floor was in fact full of giant dire snakes in large numbers.

**GAME OVER: Link was bitten to death by Snakes. Repeat a few times.**

Realizing that attempting to fight the snakes with the same tactic he used against the rats, Link decided to adopt a different approach, and unleashed spin slash after spin slash, miraculously avoiding harming Zelda in any way and avoiding what would be an unfortunate rating bump if Zelda's clothing were to suffer any form of serious damage.

Zelda, to her credit, denoted that apparently Link's sword was magical and would cause snakes to drop money when they die.

Either that or the vile, evil magician was hiring mercenary war snakes.

In which case Hyrule was certainly screwed beyond all hope.

…

"After passing through these sewers, we will be very close to sanctuary! Let's –"

Link promptly ignored Zelda and went splash into the oddly clear sewer water, which had the side benefit of cleaning his shoes. These are certainly very clean sewers.

Zelda could only sight, lift her dress above the waterline, and follow him.

Link discovered to his glee that rats in fact hate water and would not enter the sewer, and stopped near the edge of the water and stabbed all the rats to death, earning a very nice red rupee for his troubles.

…

The sewer themselves were rather short, and all too soon Link stepped onto dry land, and saw, a few rooms later, a very well lit section of the dungeon with some badly damaged wall to his left.

Link resolved to come back later when he had explosives.

Zelda sighed in relief, finally glad to be out of the water.

…

Four blocks, four blocks blocked Link's way to the staircase.

…

That was five minutes ago. Link is still standing there, utterly confused by the blocks.

Zelda sighed. "Go push the middle one."

Link complied, and it gave way, making a path.

…

One staircase up later, and suddenly they were in a much different room.

"The sanctuary is just beyond that door. Pull the switch over there."

Zelda's advice fell on deaf ears as Link realized that there were in fact two switches in the room, and without hesitation pulled on the left one.

**GAME OVER: Link was killed by ceiling snakes.**

Zelda's advice confused the hell out of Link. Which switch was she talking about?

Link headed to the right switch.

"You have to pull the lever to open the door. Hold the R button and press down on the control pad."

Once again, Link had no idea what that advice was all about, but pulled the switch, and the door opened.

…

"Princess Zelda? You are safe!" Said the bespectacled man as they emerged into what seemed to be a church.

But for rating reasons it is the Sanctuary.

"And you are the one who rescued her, Link?" Link was unsure how the man knew him, as he never went to church on account of it being three days away from his house.

"It's thanks to Link that I escaped from the dungeon!" Zelda said, mustering as much glee as she possibly could; not hard, but most of it was not related to Link's input in any way. "When I was captive the wizard said." And thus Zelda did a faux-manly voice.

" 'Once I have finished with you, the final one, the sages' seal will open.' … … …" I'm sure someone out there considered the possible and most likely nonexistent innuendo that occurred as a result of that wizard's sentence.

"Link, you must not let the land of Hyrule fall into the wizard's clutches. If he breaks the seal of the seven sages, a wave of evil power will be unleashed."

"If that happens, the people of Hyrule shall never again know peace…"

"Before that happens…"

"Before it's too late… Please! You must defeat the wizard before he defeats all of Hyrule! You can… you must!"

At this point the writer noticed the game never made it clear who was saying what, but obviously that has no bearing on the retelling of a story.

"I sense that a mighty evil force guides the wizard's actions and augments his magical power. The only weapon potent enough to defeat the wizard is the legendary Master Sword…" The Sanctuary Man said, suddenly gaining hitherto unexplained powers of clairvoyance. "But the only person remaining who has any idea of where this blade may be is the village elder. He is said to be a descendant of one of the seven sages. Perhaps he can tell you more."

"I will mark his house on your map. But we must take care! I am certain the castle soldiers are looking for you and the princess now! … … … The two of you cannot stay together, so I shall hide Princess Zelda here. Do not worry! Seek the elder! … … …"

At this point the Sanctuary man noticed three things.

One: Link was watching him with a blank expression.

Two: Link did not in fact have a map; he lost it when he fell down the hole into the garden underground.

Three: Zelda was looking at him with suspicion.

"Do you understand?" The elder asked, hesitantly. Link shrugged, stole the valuable heart container hidden inside the chest in plain sight, and walked out of the Sanctuary.

…

The rain had stopped, the day was clear, and as Link exited the Sanctuary, he had to stop between the two large trees, and sit back, and enjoy the wonderful music from god knows where.

.

.

.

{=== + ===}

Interestingly enough, I play through the game as I'm writing this,

and I almost died when the snakes showed up.

Both cases.

I am both ashamed at my incompetence and very interested to know exactly how much this Link will bleed into game!Link.


	4. Link to the Past - 4

First order of business.

Link had to go into the town, as marked by the map he now no longer had.

Fortunately the Sanctuary Man gave him a new one.

Complete with a glowing X right over where he should be.

Link, still enjoying the music, headed outside the Sanctuary garden gates.

And was immediately spotted by a heavily armored green soldier.

…

Link, now one rupee richer, headed to his right, following the road. Leaving the corpse of the soldier behind.

…

In the days it took to go from Sanctuary to the village (which a road sign identified as Kakariko) Link slew many more scouts and soldiers, all without taking a single hit in return.

His relative success was due to two factors,

One of which being Link's increased skill with a sword.

The second was due to the fact that the soldiers are mind controlled and tried to use their swords as literal extensions of themselves, as opposed to a sword.

So all they could do was run full speed towards Link, who simply sidestepped them and slashed at the neck area. The soldiers weren't un-mind-controlled enough to know how to raise their shield.

…

A week after leaving Sanctuary, Link came across the most particular building.

The open door was flanked by a pair of skull-adorned pillars, and above the gateway was a plaque. A pair of hands and a glowing orb.

The sign of a Fortune Teller.

Link heard from his uncle that the fortune teller tells you exactly what's going to happen in the future, and thus were a waste of money.

He also heard that their sign looked like something else. Something that had to do with goats.

…

Link came across a chicken.

He heard the stories, of how chickens are secretly ferocious, man-eating bird-demons that multiply when angered.

Link held zero respect for those stories.

It's just a chicken, what can they do against a sword?

**GAME OVER: Link was swarmed to death by Chickens**

With newfound respect for chickens, Link politely left it alone and headed into Kakariko Village.

…

The town bulletin board, and various signs around the town, were replaced with a new image.

An image of a long nosed, long eared boy in a nightcap that supposedly kidnapped the Princess.

Link ignored this image. It looked nothing like him, and proceeded into the house marked by the glowing X, after scouring around the town for a house with an actual glowing X upon it.

"Who?" The old lady in the house looked up, seeing Link.

"Oh, it's you, Link!"

"What can an old woman like me do for a youngster like you?"

And suddenly Link was gifted with the gift of coherence.

"I'm looking for the Elder of the Village." Link said.

Link briefly wondered how the old lady remembered him.

It was a few years ago when his Uncle showed up and adopted him, and the two moved to the countryside outside the castle. Kakariko's position with respect to his house meant every trip would go through the large forest next to the castle, and take at least two weeks for a one way trip.

How did they pack supplies to go that distance? No idea. Oversight on the Game Master's part, I guess. Moving on!

"Who? The Elder? Oh…" She sighs.

"No one has seen him since the wizard began abducting his victims… … … …" The old lady sounds quite sad, Link thought.

"What about the master sword?" Link asked next, and the old lady chuckled.

"What? Master Sword?"

"Well, I don't remember the details exactly, but…" The old lady paused. This wasn't the little child Link who came looking for a story.

Something about Link was different this time.

"Long ago a prosperous people, known as the Hylians, inhabited this land…"

"Legends tell of treasures with mythical powers that remain from the Hylian age…"

"The Master Sword, a mighty blade forged to thwart those with evil hearts, is one…"

"It is said that even now it rests deep in the forest. … … …"

"Do you understand the legend?" She asked, when Link looked bored.

"Yes, yes…" It was the same story Link heard in his childhood.

Hell, he's BEEN to the forest as a child. There were fake swords littered everywhere!

"At any rate, seek the elder." She paused for a moment.

"There must be someone in the village who knows where he is."

"Link… Take care…"

Link said his goodbyes and left, and as he was cutting down arbitrary bushes in town, Link mulled over the story one more time.

More specifically, he mulled over the delivery of the story.

It was no longer said with the mischievous wink and tone that accompanied a story you'd tell for fun, for kids. It was as if she believed it to be real.

…

"Yo Link!" A blond man in a small building covered in grass next to the Elder's house greeted him as he walked in and promptly emptied the four pots near the entrance.

"This house used to be a hideout for a gang of thieves."

"What was their leader's name… Oh yeah, his name was Blind and he really hated bright light."

This will definitely not be relevant sometime in the future, no sir-ee.

Link headed down the stairs, and saw…

Chests.

Tons of chests.

And blocks that may or may not slide.

…

Having robbed the ex-thief's den of 80 rupees, Link left with fresh confidence in his puzzle solving abilities, and continued around the town, looking for someone who has some knowledge of the Elder.

While doing some trimming on the overgrown shrubbery.

…

Link noticed that his favorite well was apparently empty, and wasted no time jumping down to investigate.

**GAME OVER: Link landed…actually just fine. Nevermind. Carry on.**

Link landed on the hard ground and rolled ahead, narrowly avoiding the wall, and scrambled to his feet.

The well has apparently been drained quite some time ago, as now chests and pots populate the landing.

…

Link got some bombs.

…

There was a collective "oh shit" around the world.

Once upon a time a little boy named Link was kicked out of Kakariko (via an adoptive uncle) because he had just a little too much fun with explosives.

…

Link bombed the odd looking wall, and looted everything inside, including a mythical piece of heart.

…

They were supposed to do something but Link forgot what it was.

"You, sir!" Link heard as he navigated around the marketplace.

"Have you been going through life without one of my hold-anything bottles?"

Link nodded. He wasn't quite old enough to grasp the intricacies of far-fetched innuendo and perverse intentions.

"Well, step right up and make your life complete! I've got this on sale now for the low, low price of 100 rupees! What do you Hey, HEY!"

Link took his sword to the bottle. Where it hit and glanced off. Link then picked up the bottle and forcibly spiked it against the ground, where it hit the hard cobblestone with a soft *dink* and laid there.

The man exhaled the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"What do you say? Interested?"

…

"Good buy! Thanks a lot! Now hold it over your head for the world to see, ok? It's good for business!"

Link was now the proud owner of a magic bottle, and as he held it high above his head (which is approximately eye-level for the adults, as he's still a child) he heard someone in the marketplace crowd yell:

"Hey! It's Link, the Wanted man! He's over here!"

Link pocket the bottle quickly. The crowd had taken a look at him and scattered to the winds.

"Solders! Anyone! Come quickly!"

Link pulled out his sword, and saw the soldier assigned as town patrol run towards him.

Of interest he noted that the man had a pair of speakers on his armor blaring very evil sounding music.

The man stopped in front of him, and Link swore his vision zoomed in to the man's head.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" The man seemed to have a minor seizure after saying those words, and Link began to back away. "THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD."

As expected, the soldier pulled out his pitchfork and went about attempting to stab Link in the face.

Unfortunately for him Link simply dispatched the poor soldier with a swift swing to the neck.

At this point, Link came across two realizations.

One: Kakariko village still by and large believe that the king is doing the right thing, if a little eccentric.

Two: He is now, without a doubt in everyone's mind, a boy capable of murder in broad daylight. Regardless of reason he killed a man without even a second thought.

…

At least the annoying evil music was over.

Link resolved to stay low-key from now on, especially as he scoured the town, searching for a lead on the whereabouts of the elder.

And thus, in order to stay low key, he broke into someone's house and stole children's clothing.

As far as the world is concerned he is just a normal boy (he stowed his hat away, too).

Link also stole the boy's bug catching net.

…

"Hi Link!"

"Do you know anything about the elder?" Link asked, a little disturbed this man had found him out so quickly.

"Who, the old guy?" Link nodded.

"OK, but don't tell any of the bad guys about this. He's hiding in the palace past the castle. I'll mark this spot on your map."

And thus Link found his next waypoint.

Link resolved to go back to the Sanctuary and let Zelda and the Sanctuary Man know.

…

When Link was far enough from the town, he switched back to his normal clothing, if only because they were more comfortable.

…

After the long trip back to the Sanctuary. Link walked into the front yard and immediately took cover behind a wall.

The doors to the Sanctuary was wide open.

Zelda was compromised.

...

…

And the Sanctuary Man was in danger too.

…

Without another moment of hesitation, Link drew his sword and charged into the building.

.

.

.

{ === + ===}

Some things I've changed because I'm not bound by the operational capabilities of the SNES and GBA.

1. The distance of travel was greatly increased.

2. Kakariko is a town of more than just ten people (or so).


End file.
